Love and Lava Peppers
by Flower princess11
Summary: A valentines day story dedicated to Sooga village's most underrated couple Ho and Hottie.


_**Disclaimer:**_ I don't own Pucca or any of the characters. Pucca is a media franchise from the south Korean company Vooz club.

 _ **Love and Lava Peppers**_

Valentine's day was a truly spectacular time of the year. A day where young lovers give each other tokens of affections and a day where friends bestow special cards to one other. It was a simple, sweet celebration about love and friendship and how fortunate one was to have them in their life.

All the people of Sooga village where getting into the lovely holiday. Merchants were selling flowers, chocolates and stuffed animals and all the citizens were clearly bit by the love bug.

People were taking their sweethearts out on dates or making heartfelt confessions to their beloveds in hopes of winning their hearts on this truly lovely, special day.

Yes, love was in the air in the tiny, Asian village of Sooga….even in the kitchen of the Goh Rong restaurant, a certain fire starter chef was in the process of preparing for his own valentine's day with a certain firey beauty.

"Just a little more and done!..."Ho exclaimed as he finished cooking the last of the food for his date with Hottie.

This was his first valentine's day together with the beautiful fire swamp queen and he wanted it to be extra special, including a meal prepared with all the love and fire within his heart.

He knew his lovely lady love had an affinity for spicy food and he took the effort to make a feast for their date today as he dined with her in her home in the fire swamp.

"Let's see if I have everything here….Buldak, steaming dumplings, extra spicy Ja Jang noodles, Abiko curry, Onnuriye Donkatsu with rice and for dessert some sweetheart cake for my spicy little sweetheart..."Ho said lovingly as he was pleased he had all of Hottie's favorite foods along with his own.

He packed everything in his basket and was off to venture into Sooga's village fire swamp to see his firey lady love.

"Have a nice time, brother..."Dumpling said from the counter.

'Don't stay out too late, you rascal..."Linguini joked, earning a laugh from Dumpling and a blush from Ho.

"Ohhh….isn't valentines day truly a grand day..."Ho said to himself as he exited the restaurant, he walked through the village and saw he wasn't the only one under the influence of the day of love.

It seems everyone was either giving or receiving a special valentine and spending time with the one they loved. Ching and Abyo were having a picnic under a shady tree, with Ching trying to drop some hints while Abyo remained his usual, oblivious self as he scarfed down the food.

Dada worked up the nerve to give Ring-Ring a handmade valentine, which she casually tossed into the large pile of gifts she already received from her other suitors.

Chief was trying hard to get Tobe's attention who in turn was disgusted with the lovey dovey display of the villagers and was more interested in seeking his vengeance.

Even Yani and Mio were purring as they were nuzzling against each other.

Also, as usual Pucca was chasing Garu throughout the village, carrying a large box of chocolates and was clearly eager to spend the day of love with the her ninja dreamboat and Garu was trying his hardest to avoid his lovesick self proclaimed valentine.

Pucca however briefly stopped to wave to her uncle before going back to her amorous pursuit.

"Aw, young love..."Ho said fondly before exiting the village.

Before long, he finally reached his destination: The fire swamps of Sooga.

He saw his beautiful Hottie there waiting for him with a smoldering gaze and a sultry smile. She was wearing a new red dress that hugged her figure and Ho found her even more captivating than ever before. Ho felt his face heat up and his heart was ablaze as it always got whenever he was around the beautiful fire Goddess.

"Happy valentines day, my love..."Hottie said before kissing his cheek, causing his face to get very hot with even steam coming out of his ears.

"Happy Valentines day, my steaming dumpling..."Ho said lovingly to the firey beauty.

Hottie lead him to an elegantly decorated table, complete with candle light and Ho took their meal out of his basket. Before long he was enjoying a romantic, candlelit lunch with the woman he loved.

Everything was truly perfect as far as he was concerned. The hot, fire swamp was actually lovely if you were used to the high temperature like he was...and he was completely bewitched with his beautiful Hottie who was enjoying his home made noodles.

"My, My...handsome and a good cook...is there anything you can't do, my love?..."Hottie said as she enjoyed her extra spicy noodles.

"I'm glad you enjoy it, my lovely lava pepper..."Ho said as he placed his hand on hers, earning a blush from the very spicy woman.

The two lovers were just happy, they were enjoying a romantic meal and spending the day of love with each other.

Despite their rather rough first start, they managed to make it work out in the end. Hottie understood that Ho had a job and a family to take care of but he still wanted to be with her, so Hottie was content with these visits whenever he had time off...also sometimes she would leave her swamp and come to the village to eat at the Goh Rong and see her love again, which he clearly enjoyed.

Hottie sighed and she stared at the man who always managed to make her heart skip a beat and burn with the flames of passion. Ho was truly the only man she ever loved and she was happy to be his valentine.

She felt guilty about how she reacted when he tried to leave the first time...he was trying to help his sick niece but she made a big mess of things, she considered herself very lucky that Ho was willing to forgive her in the end….though she at times still wondered how and why he would even want to.

Ho saw that her dropped eyes and realized something was wrong….especially when he noticed some of her locks were turning blue, a sign that she was becoming sad.

'Is something wrong, my dear?..."Ho asked to his date.

"Huh?!...oh...I...It's nothing..."Hottie said looking away, she cursed her emotions, her powers were connected to her feelings and she could never control either of them when she was upset.

"Hottie, I can see you are turning blue..."Ho said as he gestured to her now azure bangs.

"Hottie….You know you can tell me anything, now what's wrong?...Ho asked gently to his beloved and Hottie couldn't deny him when he was like that.

"I was thinking about the day we first met...and our first fight..."Hottie said guiltily as the rest of her hair was now blue and she was trying not to cry.

Ho looked confused, they already resolved the issue a long time ago, and were getting along swimmingly since then, but it seemed his beloved still felt bad about it.

"Hottie my dear…our first fight was just a little misunderstanding..."Ho said in an understanding voice

"I'm still sorry that I didn't listen...you were trying to cure your niece and I was acting like a complete hot head..."Hottie said looking down, she felt ashamed of how she acted that day and how she treated him when he tried to explain his reasons.

"We all make mistakes and it's all in the past, my dear..."Ho said as he patted her hand.

Hottie looked into his eyes, Ho really was a sweet man, she knew any other would have turned away after seeing her bad side...but not him...he was still as in love with her as he ever was and he accepted her back when she apologized.

"Ho...I know this might sound like a strange question but I need to ask you why..."Hottie said seriously to him.

" _Why..._ what?..."Ho asked in a confused tone of voice.

'Why did you forgive me so easily…?" Hottie asked, she knew it was foolish to ask him now while they were on their date and it was valentines day...but she's been evading the topic for too long and it was eating her alive...she needed to know why he still came back to her after that unattractive display.

'Hottie, you were just upset that I was leaving...it's understandable..."Ho said gently to her.

"I threw fire balls and pepper bombs at you and you still wanted me in your life..."Hottie said in disbelief.

She knew she had a bad temper and she hated that part of herself. The downside of being a fire queen was that she couldn't control the fires of her anger...and she always ended up regretting the damage she did in the end.

"Believe me when I said that I've been put through worse.."Ho said lightheartedly.

He knew Hottie was a strong woman but he could see in her eyes the lonely soul who only wanted someone to love, he understood that and he was more than happy to be the one to love her.

"Hottie, you made a mistake but you felt bad about it?..."Ho asked and smile when his beloved nodded.

"I knew you meant it when you were sorry and I never liked holding grudges, especially towards one as lovely as you..."Ho said as he kissed her hand, finally managing to bring back that smile he loved so much and her hair was back to it's beautiful, fire like form.

"Though, I do have a question of my own for you?..."Ho said suddenly.

"Why did you choose me?.."Ho asked the fire queen who looked in confusion.

'What do you mean, my love?...Hottie asked to her boyfriend.

"Hottie, you are a beautiful, powerful fire goddess and I'm just a mortal chef...what on earth did I do that made you want me so much?.."Ho asked, feeling a bit insecure.

He recalled the experience with Kua and it lowered his self esteem a bit but Hottie was a gift from heaven to him. A gorgeous woman was offering her love to him and he thought was dreaming...only to realize it was a dream come true.

"My darling….you don't give yourself enough credit, do you?..."Hottie said with a cute giggle.

"I saw the way how you handled everything my swamp threw at you with such style and ease...I never seen anyone who was as skilled as you are...Someone who could not only stand the heat of the swamp but tame it as well….Hottie said fondly as she recalled the first time seeing her beloved and how he tugged her heartstrings since the very beginning..

"You were so strong, agile and daring...needless to say you are HOT, my handsome Ho..."Hottie said in a romantic, sultry voice that made her boyfriend go red in the face again.

"Not to mention you are the first man who not only could handle the fire swamp, but you also are the first mortal who could keep up with me, so I was very impressed..."Hottie said with admiration in her beautiful, accented voice.

"Do you really feel that way?..."Ho asked only to receive a kiss upon the lips.

'Does that answer your question?..."Hottie teased and giggled when Ho suddenly nodded fast while blushing.

"But now that you brought the topic up, why did you choose me?..."Hottie asked and smirked when she saw the smile on his face.

"How could I not, Hottie..."Ho said without a beat.

"The most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life was offering herself and her heart to me on a silver platter...I would have to have been a fool to refuse something as dear as that..."Ho said with complete confidence.

The two just continued to stare at her other for the longest times, holding hands and having blissful smiles on their faces.

"Happy valentines day, my love..."Hottie said sweetly to him.

"Happy valentines day, my lovely lava pepper..."Ho said with a lovesick look on his face.

The two kissed again, causing both steam and passion to generate from both of them.

Valentines day really was a sweet and sometimes _very_ hot and spicy time of the year, especially for the fire starter and his beautiful fire lady love.

 _ **The end**_

 _:) Happy valentines day everyone :)_


End file.
